Gophers women's cross-country teams earns at-large big in NCAA meet

Halvor Houg scored his fifth goal of the season just seconds before halftime off a corner kick to lead host St. Thomas past Pacific Lutheran 1-0 in an NCAA Division III first-round men's soccer match on Saturday.

Aidan Hogan had five saves for the Tommies (15-3-2) against the Lutes (13-6-2).

• Carleton extended its unbeaten streak to 16 matches with a 1-0 victory over Transylvania University in Chicago. Spencer Weeden scored the winning goal for the Knights (16-1-3), who will play No. 3 ranked University of Chicago in the second round.

• Wisconsin-Superior beat Augsburg 1-0 in the other first-round game at St. Thomas. Noah Merritt had the goal for the Yellowjackets (15-3-2); keeper Dalton Vonkaenel had five saves for the shutout.

Junior Kaley Roberts scored in the fifth minute for No. 16 St. Thomas in a 1-0 win over Knox (Ill.) College in an NCAA Division III first-round game at La Crosse, Wis. Olivia Elvidge had four saves in goal for the Tommies (19-2).

St. Thomas, in the round of 32 for the second consecutive season, will play the host school at 1 p.m. Sunday.

Wisconsin-La Crosse advanced by beating Wartburg 2-0.

• No. 15 Wheaton (Ill.) defeated visiting Northwestern (St. Paul) 4-0 on Friday in another first-round match.

The No. 23 Gophers women's cross-country team received an at-large bid to the 2018 NCAA meet, it was announced Saturday, a day after Minnesota finished third at the Midwest Regional.

"It's awesome. I think this team deserves to be there," Gophers coach Sarah Hopkins said. "… Getting a team to the national meet is not an easy feat. Being one of only 31 teams out of 380-some-odd Division I teams in the country is amazing."

The Gophers return to the national meet — which will be held Saturday in Madison, Wis. — for the 13th time in the past 14 years after placing 19th last season.

Minnesota Duluth, ranked No. 4 in Division II, defeated visiting Southwest Minnesota State 25-17, 25-23, 23-25, 25-22 in the championship match of the NSIC volleyball tournament. Kate Berg had 15 kills and Hanna Meyer and Makenzie Morgen 13 apiece for the Bulldogs (27-5); Angela Young led the No. 7 Mustangs (23-8) with 19 kills. The 64-team field for the Division II tournament will be announced at 9 p.m. Sunday on a selection show on NCAA.com.

Liz Schultz and Madison Weiss each had 14 kills as St. Benedict beat Minnesota-Morris 23-25, 23-25, 25-8, 25-16, 15-11 in an NCAA Division III second-round volleyball match in St. Peter, Minn. The Bennies (25-7) hit .593 in the third set and .714 in the fourth to tie the match. Rachel Mathias had 12 kills and Brenna Tinjum 10 for the Cougars (22-11).

• Max McHugh of the Gophers won the 200-yard breaststroke in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge at Purdue in 1:54.20. His time is the fastest in the country this season.

• No. 10 Bemidji State, which beat Minot State 3-1 on Friday, will play visiting Central Missouri at 1 p.m. Sunday in the second round of the NCAA Division II women's soccer tournament. … No. 21 Minnesota State Mankato, which edged Emporia State 2-1 in overtime on Friday, will play at Central Oklahoma at 1 p.m. Sunday.